To speak or not, the good, bad, and the ugly of aging
Aging is a boon or a stigma, the fear of aging is rampant in every culture, every nook and corner of the world. In a world that is pacing itself faster and faster, do we really have time to look back at our lives, our interests, our purposes? Not so, I had thought… until I started my career as a Geriatrician decades ago…
Our elderly are very unique, each with their own little destinies unearthing as they grow older and wiser by the day… Some are open to accepting those white/grey hairs, while others see them as a hindrance to their very self-being. It takes me back to my school days, where one of my teachers stood different, she embraced every part of the aging journey so well, I would think that must be her confidence! But no, the truth was she was comfortable the way she was, that comfort made her look more graceful and grateful. While I felt empowered, it hit me close, when I saw how my family members, neighbors that were part of my own … disliked every wrinkle, grey hair ….yes it was their way of accepting aging. There is nothing wrong in either way… it is our ability to speak freely about these that make our aging worlds so special…
As longevity looms large on every face, mind, thought, what is the good, bad, and ugly of aging? This is what our blog explores today…What can we do to make this world of aging about life’s simple pleasures… there is no wrong or right… it is the beginning of a thought..
- Do silver hairs speak different on different people and their personalities?
- What does a wrinkle tell us? Our generation, our upcoming generations ?
- How do we know or recognize healthy aging? Is it physical, emotional, mental, social, spiritual, financial, psychological or something that we do not know yet?
- What if we do or can turn younger, will that be enough? Is there a limit to how we perceive aging?
- Are we afraid of speaking or discussing because it is a taboo or because of our culture or instead a fear, a choice, a personality?
- Where do we come to know how we get older, what happens to us and so on? Is there a need for a fundamental change in our mindsets ?
- Who are we portraying? Our past, our current or our future? What message do we send to our children, kith and kin, our communities, societies, worlds?
- Will society close on us, if we do not conform to the standards ? is this the way our productivity is measured? What if the contrary was true?
- Is there hope to be able to share without hesitation, do we start as children or teens, young adults or middle aged? What is the real age to talk about healthy and unhealthy aging?
- Where does it go from here? Do we know what we truly want , or seek ?
That must have been heavy, reading through what I poured out, but wait, we do have to explore ways to speak the good, bad and the ugly of aging…
Here are some ways to start a conversation with our own selves, our parents, siblings, communities
- How about a book club reading venture on aging?
- Writing personal journals of personal journeys?
- Accepting people for who they are? And not for how they look? Can we start early ?
- Looking at a person’s abilities vs physical looks when hiring? Interviewing or offering a job?
- Filling gaps in experiences by welcoming inspired elderly to our speaker forums, clubs, meetings?
- Appreciating all elderly as part of a normal society .. no matter their health
- Making way for family conversations involving multigenerational members, it might even change someone’s life for the better!
- Learning to separate healthy and unhealthy aging… it is not just chronic conditions that make it, recognizing patterns of mental health and seeking help… starts with a “speak”
- While it might be cool to say our aged are more experienced, we might also underestimate their abilities to learn new things, and become literate, take a moment to introspect.
- Creating for an aging population… a new norm vs a futile resource
There are so many things that might come to your mind, today, tomorrow, or future…the wish here is to speak about aging, the good, bad, and the ugly. For without freedom of speech and thoughtful positive action, we are reversing our very growth through the stone age! So with this, I shall end this blog, please take a moment to pause, and see how we can overcome this. For life’s simple pleasures do not always translate to artificial anti-aging, for us at mihygge, anti-aging is about celebrating us, in every way, no matter who we are in the spectrum of Geriatric care😊
As always we look forward to your views, as sharing is the best way to healthy aging!